Thank You

I wanted to send out a big thank you to a lot of people! Every year The Cellar stays open its another year of greatness that so many people have helped create. First off, the musicians of Vancouver. I have said this time and time again. We are soooo lucky to have quality of musicians that we have in this city. So many of them could go off to the assumably greener pastures of a bigger center but they decide to stay here and help cultivate and nurture the scene here in Vancouver. It makes the club very very easy to book and the musicians of this city have been so willing to work with me through the ups and downs. THANK YOU GUYS AND GIRLS

To the people that frequent the club...WOW. Without your continuous support and patronage The Cellar would've never made it this far. It gives me so much pleasure to look out in the crowd and see so many familiar faces. It gives me just as much pleasure to look out and see unfamiliar faces looking around and digging the club and whats going on! Its so nice to create something that people want to be a part of!

To my staff who have to deal with me every dam day. Trust me this can be tough! They work their butts off and do a wonderful job. I have never felt this good about a collection of staff members in 6 years as I do right now. Everyone has a good attitude and its a lot of fun to lead a team like that!

To our group of investors. I don't even know where to begin so I won't. Without your moral and financial support we wouldn't have made it to our 3rd let alone our 6th.

THANKS!!

6 Years

As I write this I'm pretty bagged from the crazy weekend so I'm gonna keep it short and sweet. I had what was probably the most incredible weekend I have ever had in the 6 years here at the club. If you were here on either of the two nights you know musically exactly what I'm talking about. Two of the toughest tenor saxophonists on the planet gracefully battling it out on stage. George Coleman and Eric Alexander are hands down two of my favorite saxophonists and to have them gracing the stage at the same time is something I will not soon forget. It was unpredictable, inspirational and absolutely incredible. The band of Jesse Cahill, Jodi Proznick and Ross Taggart kicked some serious ass and I have a new admiration for all of them because Big George was throwing them curve balls at every turn and they were right there pretty much every step of the way. The club was jammed and everything went swimmingly! Perhaps the biggest thrilll however was just being in the presence of Big George. This guy is basically retired and doesn't travel for anyone. He love Eric however and after the three days we spent together he paid me some of the greatest compliments that i have ever received about the club, the way I treated him, the way the staff treated him etc. It was an incredible way to spend our anniversary!

Looking For Feedback

The Cellar is thinking about offering a select amount of its shows on the web. The shows would be streamed live over the internet and would be on Pay Per Listen basis. For example, for $10 you would be able to listen to 2 full sets of music live. Once you made your purchase, the link would stay active for a set amount of time. For example 12 hours and you could listen to it later. There are some costs to starting this service up and before we go ahead with it we would like to see if anyone has any feedback as to whether they would a) be into it and would pay for b) not into it c) would like to see video along with audio etc. etc.

You can email me at cory@cellarjazz.com. Im looking forward to hearing from you.

Wow!

From time to time I make booking at The Cellar that are completely and totally selfish. Case in point, this weekend with Chicago tenor saxophonist Frank Catalano. I have been aware of Catalano for many years. He is somewhat of a child prodigy touring with Charles Earland (The Might Burner) when he was 16, recording and touring with Tony Bennett when he was 17 and appearing on album with everyone from Jennifer Lopez to Randy Brecker. I call it a selfish booking because Cat isn't a household name in Canada and I figured it was gonna be a tough sell. I did as much as I could to generate some interest and I have to say that the general public came though in a big big way. The club had about 67 people in it on Friday and last night were were at 90 people and at one point had a lineup of about 15 deep. Frank Catalano delivered in a big way. This guy is really to good for his own good. He has an absolutely huge sound and plays the saxophone with reckless abandoned. I can only dream of having all of those ideas in my head at one time. Everyone was sweating after every song. Epic solos, high energy, inflectious squawks and wails.

The crowd absolutely loved it as they were yelling, screaming and cheering. Thanks everyone for responding to my email blasts and taking a chance on someone that you didn't really know. Catalano will be back soon for sure!

Its about attaching value

I have read my last post over and over and have continued to think about what goes through the minds of people when decideing whether or not to pay for live music. We don't really attach value to any of the other stuff we really purchase. Latte's from Starbucks, movies at a theatre, a 24 pack of beer, an ounce of weed or a few cds. We look at the price tag and just automatically accept what it is. Sure, I here the odd person bitch about their $6 latte but do they walk away without purchasing it? I never leave a movie theater after a crappy movie complaining about the price.

For some reason when people go to hear live music they all of a sudden attach this monetary value to it and judge whether its too much or too little. $10 is to much for this or $6 is to much for that. People are curious as to if ther are cover charges and if so why there are. It seems much harder for people to grasp the concept that in order for artists to get paid here has to be a revenue stream created. The same way that Tom Cruise or any actor gets paid 57 million for a movie, is the same way a musician gets paid for performing.

Someone help me here!